Star Trek Beyond: A New Trailer

So I’ve watched the new trailer for Star Trek: Beyond several times now, and I’m still coming away with a far better impression than from the first. The presentation, at least, gives the vision of something more than a mediocre action adventure movie with Star Trek trappings that rips off previous plots without making enough sense to avoid a WTF was that reaction.

I’m not going to do a frame by frame analysis. I’m sure there are a dozen or more of those available already, and the trailer only released 8 or 9 hours ago. But I will make a few general points.

The movie seems to be trying to re-establish the Kirk-Spock-Bones dynamic in a real way, beyond simple off hand comments and cheap laugh jokes.

It looks like we’re getting more emotional depth from the principal characters (though Chekov was notably absent from the trailer, and Sulu had only two very brief flashes of screen time).

Our new enemy isn’t just a mindless big, bad, but seems to have a purpose of some kind that isn’t clear in the trailer.

Kirk has some philosophical conflict, and his bartender, I mean doctor, needs to point out the obvious to remind him of what things are really about.

Spock might just be a little more Vulcan again and trying to figure out humans, in spite of continuing his relationship with Uhura, which I suspect is due at least partially to persistence on her part.

Kirk doesn’t appear to be banging any hot alien babes as a throwaway comment. Corollary: the female lead isn’t someone for him to get into bed, though it won’t surprise me if there’s some flirting going on.

The crew may be coming together as a unit rather than just acting as an extension of Kirk’s will.

In short, it seems just possible that we’re getting a Star Trek movie this time around. I’m more hopeful than I was before discovering the trailer over breakfast, and I’ll probably have lots more to say as the release date gets closer. Actually, I think I’m at the point where I think there’s a possibility I’ll want to see this one more than once, and that’ll be a first in the reboot universe.